Overview

The assassination of Abraham Lincoln stunned the nation and abruptly ended the nearly week long celebration of the surrender of Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. Black crepe and evergreen mourning decorations quickly began to appear across the North. On April 21, 1865, the funeral train carrying the bodies of Abraham Lincoln and his deceased son, Willie, left Washington D. C. enroute to Springfield, Illinois, where it arrived twelve days later on May 3.

Objective(s)

Students will combine all of their research knowledge of Lincoln and determine what ten things Lincoln would be proud of throughout his life and write an Eulogy that he would have wanted.

Background

The death of President Abraham Lincoln on the morning of April 15, 1865, stunned a nation
that was still celebrating the surrender of Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern
Virginia only six days before. Many in the North wondered how such a tragedy could happen at the time when the war was so close to an end. Bells tolled and cannons were
fired in honor of the fallen President. Black mourning decorations and evergreens adorned homes and businesses alike in the North. Eulogies of Lincoln by politicians, preachers, and newspaper editors began to quickly appear across the North. Even in many of the southern states, Confederate veterans and newspaper editors condemned the assassination of President Lincoln.

Plans for the burial of Abraham Lincoln were soon being made. As the mourning
spread across the North, demands to view the martyred president came from every
Northern state. On April 18, 1865, the body of President Lincoln lay instate in the East
Room of the White House. Over 25,000 people filed past the casket. The next day,
in a grand procession, the remains of President Lincoln was removed to the Capitol
where another estimated 25,000 viewed his body over two days.

On April 21, the funeral train carrying the bodies of President Lincoln and his deceased
son, Willie, left Washington D. C. on a circuitous route that spanned twelve days and 1,654
miles, retracing the route Lincoln had taken to Washington D. C. to be inaugurated as
President in 1860. Stops along the way included Baltimore, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, New York, Albany, Buffalo, Cleveland, Columbus, Indianapolis, Michigan City, Chicago, and finally reached Springfield on May 3. Thousands had lined the train route to get a glimpse of the funeral train and thousands more filed past the casket at each stop to
view the body of the President. The following morning the caskets containing the remains
of President Lincoln and his son, Willie, were interred in a tomb at Oak Ridge Cemetery
on the outskirts of Springfield.

Materials

For this lesson students will need a copy Lincoln's House Divided Speech, a copy of Lincoln's Departure from Springfield, Illinois Speech, an account from the book Meeting Mr. Lincoln, journal example sheet, and journal entry worksheet.

Students will create an outline of what information they will use in the journal entry as required by the blank journal entry worksheet.

Instruct students on how to document using APA Chicago style footnotes.

Allow students time to work on assignment.

Provide for peer grading opportunities.

Wrap up the lesson with a discussion on what information they obtained from the reading material.

Summative assignment will be the completed journal entry.

Assessment

4

3

2

1

Required Elements

Includes at least one quotation from research material and includes at least six biographical details from ABLI life. All five Journal entries cover at least four different genres. Outline notes are included for all Journal entries.

Includes at least one quotation from research material and includes at least six biographical details from ABLI life. All five Journal entries cover at least three different genres. Outline notes are included for all or most artifacts.

Missing one to two required elements. May have no quotation from the novel or fewer than six artifacts. Outline notes are included for most artifacts.

Missing three or more required elements (i.e., the quotation from the novel and six biographical details. Outline notes are incomplete or not included for the artifacts.

Topic/Content

Journal entries clearly relate to the main topic. Covers topic completely and in depth. Encourages readers to know more.

Journal entries clearly relates to the main topic. Includes essential information and enough elaboration to give readers an understanding of the topic.

Journal entries clearly relates to the main topic. Includes some essential information with few facts or details.

Journal entries have little or nothing to do with the main topic. Includes little essential information and only one or two facts

Creativity

A lot of thought was put into making the Journal entries interesting and fun as shown by creative style and outline notes.

Some thought was put into making the Journal entries interesting and fun as shown by the creative style and outline notes.

Some thought was put into making the Journal entries interesting and fun, but some of the things made it harder to understand/enjoy.

Little thought was put into making the Journal entries interesting or fun.

Bibliographical Resources

Includes properly cited sources and complete information. Students will use Chicago style APA footnotes.

Documentation is included for all sources, but some bibliographical information is missing.

Documentation for some sources is missing and/or incomplete.

No documentation is included.

Mechanics

Grammar, spelling, punctuation, capitalization are correct. No errors in the text.

Journal must be 1 page in length. 12 Font Times new roman.

Spacing no more than 1.5 with footnotes included at the bottom of the page.